Rachael

Anyone have any idea about why, when I pause and then turn off my iShuffle in the middle of an audiobook, and a few days later turn it back on (non-shuffle mode, natch) and hit play, that it has backed up about forty-five minutes of listening time? There’s no way to jump ahead except by slow-forwarding — jumping to the next thing on the iShuffle takes me out of the book altogether, as it isn’t stored in chapters, but in one big lump. Why does it go backwards? When it’s off?

Anyone? Ta very much.

California did good, didn’t it? No on EVERYTHING! Take THAT, Arnold. I
was immensely cheered this morning, driving home, thinking about my
home state and how well it did, although by the skin of its teeth.

It does make me wonder, though, how a state’s population can reject gay
marriage initiatives, but still be liberal enough to understand that
some girls WILL have abortions, whether they’re safe or not. Oh, well.

On the gay civil rights front: Go Maine! Texas, you make me ashamed and
sad (although I know my loving liberal Texan readers got out there and
voted!).

There. The political section of this blog is now over, and we can talk
about sensitive things like feelings. And how I miss Lala and I think
she’s been well enough Buddhist for a while, am’nt I right? How much
levitating can someone do in a week? (Don’t freak out – I don’t think
she levitates. Rides a skateboard pretty well, though.) The dogs and I
are ready for her to come home now.

I just started my weekend, and I didn’t do it well. I got off at six,
home by seven, in bed by eight, and I meant to just nap a little. I got
up at three! That’s a Real Sleep, which means that tonight’s sleep will
be rough, and I have to get up at five in the morning to make it to
work for an all-day mandatory training class, which eats into valuable
weekend time. But god bless overtime.

I’ve deemed today my do-nothing day. I’ve already slept most of it
away, and you know what I’m going to do with the rest? Nothing.
(Nothing being knitting/spinning and watching Tivo, the best kind of
nothing.) If I sleep tonight, great. If I don’t, at least tomorrow is
only training and I can’t kill anyone while on the job.

I have this new Hotel Theory, which I’ll explain in the next post. But right now I have big nothing plans to put into place….

1. Heard while walking into the coffee-shop: "The best thing to do is get all your rain-gear on, go out into the woods, and THEN eat the shrooms."

2. I know you’ve donated to everything this year, but there are still three million homeless people in Pakistan from the recent earthquake (17,000 children killed alone), and the winter is coming, fast. The fabulous Jessica has set up a donations website here. Knitters rock, I tell you. But you knew that.

3. I’m almost caught up on email and I found the local burrito shop, so I’m taking a HUGE burrito in to work with me tonight. Mmmm, carnitas.

4. Almost time for work, which I really like. Last night I realized I was working six different radio channels at one time, speaking on all of them, following the traffic on all of them as best I could (I missed things – the fast pace is difficult, but I’ll get used to it). I love that I like a challenge. I hate that I need to be perfect, even when I’m new at something. Working on that.

5. Coffee is GOOD!

6. Eventually, I am sure I will get a google hit for the first item on this list, and I’ll get some dumb email from someone asking me where to get shrooms. Dude, read the whole list. Don’t send that email.

For scale:

    Miss Idaho, next to  handspun

I’ve been grumping around all day today, and for most of the day I didn’t really know why. It was kind of overcast outside, not the kind of day that inspires much movement. Usually it would have been a good day just to sit and knit, but my new work week starts on Sunday, and that means that Sundays are for sleeping in and making sure laundry is done and that I have food in the house to take with me. Not a brainlessly lazy kind of day. But that wasn’t enough to explain my dark mood.

I finally figured it out at about 2pm. I’m surprised it took me that long, but it did. It was obvious, that’s why I missed it.

Lala’s gone for a week and a half, and with my work schedule, I won’t see her for almost two weeks. She left yesterday.

Duh. It took me a whole day to figure out why I was stomping around the house, displeased with chocolate and yarn alike. I’m an idiot.

I knew I would miss her, but I thought it would be easier. I thought I would be decadent and lie on the couch, eating Snack Food (crackers and cheese and salami), drinking red wine until three in the morning, knitting and watching crap TV. I did that last night. But I got sleepy and went to bed at 10:30. Dude. Way to party while the girlfriend’s gone.

I have the dogs, though, and that’s fun. They’re mopey, too. They laugh and jump and love on me, but their eyes stare blankly out the windows as soon as we stop playing. Is that her? Is that her? Is that her?

Isn’t this the most love-lorn, pathetic thing ever? It’s not like I even see La much — our schedules have been pretty out of whack. But at least I COULD steal an hour or two last week. This week, she’s being all Buddhist-ey up north, and I totally support her in her enlightenment endeavors. But excuse me as I pout.

These help, though:

And this does, too — a pic of Lala buying flowers for sister-in-law Won-Ju (check out her amazing artwork!) before an art opening, in which she had a piece!

I don’t know other people STAND to be around us. But this was really funny.

https://rachaelherron.com/i_dont_know_oth/

How is it possible that I have nothing deeply and velvetly chocolate in my house? I just searched, and there’s nothing. Some old chocolate covered raisins. A box of brownie mix (don’t think I didn’t consider it). Not even any good cheese, which, you know, can stand in for a chocolate craving if you eat enough of it at one time. And if you chase it with chocolate.

The biggest question is why I keep looking. Like it’s going to change. I keep wondering if there’s a cupboard I haven’t checked, or a bag somewhere in my closet with that last hazelnutty bit of creamy chocolate heaven.

Dude. I’m so headed for the emergency chocolate chip bag right now. You know the one. I don’t normally fiend like this, but I’m dying here. I’m too tired to drive to the store. Those last seventeen chocolate chips are going to have to work for me right now. A lick and a promise, and the good stuff will have to come later. What I wouldn’t do for a box of Cadbury Creme Eggs right NOW. April can’t come quick enough.

https://rachaelherron.com/how_is_it_possi/